


Teen Hearts and Comic Pages

by caterinawrites



Series: Comicbook [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Girl Squad - Freeform, M/M, Painful awkwardness, alix is to ace for this shit, comicbook, continuation of my one shot, matchmaker marinette, mlm, shy beans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-15 22:10:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15422676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caterinawrites/pseuds/caterinawrites
Summary: When Nathaniel and Marc are taking too long to move their relationship past artistic partners, Marinette and the girls cook up a scheme to help create a spark.





	1. Meddle

 

“Hey, Nathaniel.” Marinette nearly scared him out of his skin, and he covered her mouth, shushing her frantically.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that!” He hissed under his breath.

“Whatcha doing?” She asked, rocking back on her heels with a knowing smirk, and Nathaniel’s cheeks flushed guiltily as he turned back and clasped the bars on the staircase.

“Marc is working on the script for our next issue,” He said, gazing across the courtyard to where Marc was curled up writing with his hood covering his head and headphones in his ears.

“Oh! How exciting!” Marinette bounced a little, peeking through the bars with him. “So why are you all the way over here?”

“Well…” Nathaniel rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t really want to disturb him, but I’m really excited to read what he writes next.”

“You two make quite the team, huh?” Marinette flashed him a smile, and he tugged on his jacket nervously.

“You think so?” He asked shyly.

“Of course! Your first issue was amazing, and I know that you two are going to make an even better second,” She said, nudging him with her elbow, and he shifted his gaze to his shoes. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing, it’s just that…All Marc and I do when we’re together is work on the comic,” Nathaniel said, shifting his weight and kicking the ground a little with his foot. “Sometimes I kind of wish that when we hung out that we could do other stuff, ya know?”

“Have you told him that?” Marinette cocked a brow, and Nathaniel’s spine stiffened.

“Well, uh, not exactly,” He said, tapping his index fingers together. “I’m not really the best with words.”

“So draw him a picture. You’re good at that,” Marinette encouraged, and he curled his shoulders a little. “C’mon, Marc probably wants to get closer to you too, Nate.”

“You think so?” He glanced up at her hopefully, so she put a hand on his shoulder.

“I know so, and if you want my help, I can-”

“No thanks, Marinette. I think you’ve helped Marc and I enough.” He shook his head, removing her hand and placing it back at her side. “But thanks for the advice.”

Marinette folded her arms over her chest, puffing out her cheeks grumpily, but she supposed he did have a point. She waved as he rushed off to the art room, taking one last peek at Marc before trotting off to the locker rooms.

“Alix!” She called as her friend closed her locker, slinging her backpack over one shoulder.

“What’s up, Marinette?” Alix cocked a brow, giving her a concern once over.

“I just caught Nathaniel spying on Marc from across the courtyard!” She whispered giddily, and Alix gave her a scolding look.

“You promised not to meddle,” Alix said pointedly, and Marinette bounced impatiently.

“I know, but I couldn’t help it. Nate just looked so shy, so I gave him a little advice and-”

“Marinette, that’s the opposite of not meddling,” She said in exasperation, cocking her head back and rolling her eyes.

“Well, it’s so obvious that they’re into each other and just don’t know how to go about telling each other,” Marinette whined, slumping her shoulders. “I just want to give them a gentle nudge in the right direction.”

“Do you really think _you’re_ the best person to be helping them confess their feelings?” Alix said harshly with a smirk. “I mean, exactly how many successful conversations have you had with Adrien?”

Marinette puffed her chest out, taking a breath to retort then letting it out slowly, conceding her point. “You’re right, Alix. I can’t do this alone.”

“No.” Alix shook her head when a determined smile curled on Marinette’s lips.

“Oh, c’mon, Alix! Nate is your best friend,” She pleaded, clasping her hands together in front of her. “You said it yourself that this was going to be painful to watch, so why not help them speed up the process?”

“No,” Alix said again, pushing past her and heading for the door.

“Please?”

“No.”

“ _Please?”_

“No.”

“Fine.” Marinette sighed, crossing her arms over her chest with a smug grin. “I’ll ask the other girls.”

Alix let out a groan, pausing in the doorway and leaning her head back. If she knew Marinette, there was no getting out of this, especially if she got Alya involved, so begrudgingly she glanced back over her shoulder with a sour glare.

“Okay, I’m in.”


	2. Planning

“Okay, girls. We have an important mission for you,” Alya said later that evening, pacing the floor of Juleka’s living room. Alix, Juleka, Rose, and Myléne sat on the couch and floor, the latter three watching with utmost interest while Alix leaned against her fists with a bored expression.

“Nathaniel and Marc both have feelings for each other,” Marinette stated, pausing in response to the ‘awws’ from Rose and Myléne. “The problem is they’re both too shy to admit it.”

“We need a plan to help give them more confidence,” Alya continued, cocking a hip to one side. “Ideas?”

“What if we let them figure it out themselves?” Alix suggested with an eye roll.

“That’ll take them too long,” Marinette said, shaking her head. “We want them to get together this century.

“Yeah, just like Marinette and Adrien,” Myléne teased, prompting giggles from the others while Marinette’s cheeks flushed. “Okay, but seriously, I think you’re right. Nathaniel is very private about his feelings, and we all know Marc is a constant ball of anxiety.”

“I’ve got an idea!” Rose raised her hand. “What if we leave notes in both of their lockers telling them to meet up at a romantic location?”

“Great idea, Rose!” Marinette praised. “Okay, so locations for the date?”

“You can never go wrong with the Pont des Arts,” Alya suggested.

“I’ve heard the Luxembourg gardens are lovely this time of year,” Myléne added while Marinette scribbled them down on the marker board.

“The Trocadero is romantic at night,” Juleka said softly.

“It’s true! We went for a walk there last weekend,” Rose said, leaning against her shoulder.

“Perfect! I’ll craft the notes tonight, and we’ll regroup tomorrow after school to follow them,” Marinette said decisively.

“Who are we following?” The voice belonged to Luka, and Marinette jumped out of her skin with a yelp.

“N-No one. Uh, we are doing a problem- I mean, a project for school. We have to, um,” Marinette fumbled, glancing at Alya for help.

“We’re tracking bird flight patterns in biology, so we have to put a tracker on a pigeon then see where it goes during the day,” Alya lied smoothly, and Luka’s eyebrows furrowed curiously.

“Cool.” He nodded, turning to Rose. “I just finished the mix for a new song.”

“Awesome!” She perked up, checking her phone for his message.

“Good luck with your ‘problem.’” He made air quotes, flashing a playful smirk to Marinette before retreating back to his room.

Marinette gazed after him for several seconds, face flushed and hot, a small smile curled on her lips until Alya snapped her fingers. The other girls eyed her suspiciously, and she cleared her throat.

“Alright then. Phase one of Operation Soulmate is underway.” She stuck her hand out, and each girl placed a hand in except for Alix. The group gave her a pleading look, so she rolled her eyes and stuck her hand in reluctantly as they all cheered. She had a feeling that this was going to go horribly wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Girl Squad! I was going to post this yesterday, but I spent the weekend with my family babysitting my nephew, so I never got around to it. Things are getting more interesting ;) Will have more soon.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm writing chapter fic about the tomato. What has my life come to? 
> 
> I ship it, okay? Sue me.
> 
> Part two of Nathaniel's Apology. I didn't necessarily want to add this as another chapter to that one cause I do want it to kind of stand alone and be it's own thing, so this is a continuation story about the two shy beans coming together with the help of their friends.


End file.
